Monday, May 24, 2010
Visioning Collages
This was our retreat group that worked on the visioning process this past weekend. A couple of people weren't able to come, unfortunately, but the four of us had a good time.
In the porch swing are Danielle on the left and Jade on the right. In the back are me on the left and Teresa on the right. Teresa and I have done this process before, but it was new to Danielle and Jade.
We met in Ramona, which is a great place for a retreat. It's a quiet town of fewer than 100 people.
The concept is to start with a focus phrase and create a collage that illustrates the phrase. Everyone was generous enough to allow me to share their finished products here on the blog, as well as their statements.
Jade started Saturday with yoga, as she does every day.
We were pretty relaxed, and took some time to enjoy the front porch before getting down to business.
But we went inside to ourstacks of magazines, scissors and glue. I am sharing some photos of every one working away.
Teresa made a delicious lunch of salad for us.
It was nice to take the time to eat together. The other time I did this process with a group we never had time to do that, or sit on the porch, or do anything except work on the projcet at hand.
Jade was making fast process so I had to take a look.
I was having some difficulty with the process this time. You can see my pile of pictures and words here, many of which didn't make the cut to the final product.
There's a point where everything is chaos. We all had that feeling at one time or another.
Jade was the first one finished, and was pleased with her collage.
Danielle was the next one finished.
She even had time to do both sides, as you'll see below.
Teresa and I were still working, although I finished later that afternoon. Teresa was still finishing details for awhile.
Jade's focus statement was "Connecting with Joy."
Danielle's was "Living Free." She did both sides of her posterboard.
My statement was "My Ideal Life."
Teresa's was "It's Cleaned Up."
All in all it was a very productive weekend. I have my collage on the wall in my home office where I can see it every day. I'm so appreciative of the women who undertook this journey with me.
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10 comments:
Thank you for sharing. That was very exciting. I have enjoyed what I see. If I may share...Jade's displays, in my eyes, seems a bright & pleasant balance of words and images. Yes, joyful.
Danielle's displays, in my eyes, both sides of her life, of work and pleasure. Nothing stands out as if to dominate unnecessarily. Even the red is balanced with the other colors in her 'work.' Her 'pleasure' shows pleasant growth and creative abundance.
So why am I hearing a tiny whisper say "We're dieing here?"
Obviously, what is shared at a retreat is private so I can't speak for Jade or Danielle. They were both fabulous about engaging in this process. It is something I find really beneficial. Everyone was very gracious about letting me share their collages. One thing I've learned over the years of doing this is that what they say to the creator of them can be completely different than what they say to the rest of us. It's part of what is so interesting about the process.
So if I back away from Teresa's, I simply see the words 'whole' and 'I can.' From this distance that looks very healthy. There is a lot of blue. This blue is light. Full of peace and rest.
Sometimes it helps for a complete stranger to articulate the dream. Sometimes what we think we are projecting and what others perceive from what we are projecting don't agree. If we can not be offended by this and use this information to re-evaluate, either ourselves or the way we are expressing ourselves toward another, it helps.
Teresa loves blue when she's doing collages, so it's not surprising there's a lot there. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we all had the "I can" attitude about everything?
Yes... it's always interesting to know what others see in our vision collages. Always!
Twould be interesting to see how the collages might have been different had the creators been assured their works would remain private, even from others in the group. Knowing you're being watched, or potentially evaluated, changes your behavior.
But being a filmmaker, I'm sensitive to how observation can affedt the way a person acts.
Welcome back, kiddo.
Part of this process is to share with the group. Naturally, it could be a different process. People knew it was okay to say "no" to being on the blog. Oddly enough, I think I was by far the most reluctant to share my collage online.
Not surprising, Patsy, that you'd be the most reluctant one. You've been in media (still are, with the blog and your day job). Media people seem the most guarded about revealing too much about themselves.
I wasn't hesitant the last time we did this process, but this time was different in lots of ways. Of course, I did. Frankly, I think maybe the old one was more personal than this one. Who knows the ways of the human brain? Certainly not me!
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